


Call Me Every Day

by Madje_Knotts



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angus is blupjeans baby, F/F, F/M, Fuck Sazed (The Adventure Zone), Gen, Lucretia has no idea what to expect, Lup is the major character death, M/M, The Taako and Sazed is minor, There are more sweet Lucretia things that happen then I ever expected, There will be Twin shenanigans with a Lup who remembers everything, and technically she doesn't die in Wave Echo Cave, but she is a lich so she doesn't stay dead, eighth bird Angus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-06 14:25:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15887850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madje_Knotts/pseuds/Madje_Knotts
Summary: What if Lup had taken Angus her son with her when she went to Wave Echo Cave? What if trying to get off the ship with Baby Angus had woken Taako up and he'd gone with her? What if she didn't die at Wave Echo Cave and so travelled with Taako until Glamour Springs? What if she was a Lich when Taako began to work for the Bureau of Balance?Mostly snippets from the years between Lucretia feeding the info to Fisher until Tres Horny Boys join the BoB, but once they get started Lup is gonna wreak havoc and Lucretia is going to wish she'd never started this whole mess. Because Lup isn't going to wait around unlike Barry.Should be biweekly update.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to TAZ for the first time between the end of June and the beginning of August and fell instantly in love with these good good boys and the beautiful story they crafted. When I finished, I was like a week and a half out from starting Nursing School, but my brain wouldn't stop so, I've been trying hard not to write unless I'm finished with my homework. My plan is to update every other week and I've got the first 6 chapters finished, so hopefully I'll have enough written to keep this up for a while.

_As she wove, a thread began to unravel as if trying to go two ways. Istus frowned, that wouldn’t do, a thread split in two would weaken everything. She didn’t like to interfere in the Fate of mortals, but this was too important. With a deft hand she reached in and began to twist the thread back together…_

                                                                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~

     Taako didn’t sleep anymore. Sure, he meditated whenever his spell slots dwindled, but, ever since they’d created the artefacts, the dream had been too much for Taako to handle. Lup knew that, they all knew that. Hell, they’d all been freaked out at one time or another when they’d woken up early and had found him sitting upright on one of the couches with a blank stare on his face. Taako thought it was hilarious.

     Listening to Lup attempt to hush a whimpering Angus with promises of anything he wanted from Barry when they returned wasn’t hilarious. Lup was sneaking off and that was terrifying. Taako stood up and walked silently into the kitchen. Angus’s face lit up when he saw his favorite uncle approaching over his mother’s shoulder. Angus chortled and strained towards Taako, his hands making grabbing motions as he tried to reach the elf.

     Lup spun defensively as Taako reached over her shoulder and plucked the baby from her arms. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was her brother, but she still smacked him, “God, babe, warn a girl when you sneak up on her.”

     Taako raised an eyebrow as he saw the note she’d just set on the table, “‘Back Soon?’ Where are we going, Lulu?”

     “You’re not going anywhere,” Lup scoffed, rolling her eyes at her brother, “I have something to do alone.”

     “Yes, I can see you are very alone taking Angus with you. No-no-ow-Ango-those aren’t toys,” Taako yelped as Angus got ahold of the earrings in on of Taako’s ears and tried to pull them into his mouth. Lup laughed and Taako glared at her as she helped free his ears from her son. “If you think I’m letting you go off in search of your relic alone, then becoming a lich must have fucked your brain up more than we knew.”

     Lup laughed shortly and then grew quiet, “Taako, I can’t…”

     “Lup, this is the last cycle. There aren’t anymore. I cannot just let you leave and possibly die without knowing where you are.” Taako handed Angus back to Lup, “I know you’re a lich and Barold is a fucking genius when it comes to necromantic magic, but I cannot lose you.”

     Lup sighed, “Alright, fine. You win.”

     Taako smiled, “Of course I do. I’m fabulous.”

      Lup shoved Angus and the front carrier that Merle had woven out of some flexible plant material into Taako’s chest. Taako strapped Angus onto his chest as Lup hoisted a rucksack on her back and grabbed the Umbra Staff. She grinned wildly at her brother, her canine’s showing sharp and sparkling, “Let’s go find us some artefacts.”

                                                                                                              ~~~~~~~~~~

_As the thread began to respond under her hand, twisting back together with barely a sign that anything had happened before, Istus smiled. A new future was unfolding and it was going to be amazing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the idea that Taako and Lup are two parts of the same thread, probably a strange bicolored thread that clashes but goes together perfectly. And I also love the idea of Istus deciding to keep that thread together which in turn keeps Lup and Taako in the same place. Which is the best thing for my favorite twins.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: http://madjeknotts.tumblr.com/  
> If I have any issues updating I'll probably post something there.


	2. Year Zero: Wave Echo Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Lup, Taako, and Angus hide a Relic before a sibling conversation and Lucretia feeds Fisher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Cyrus Rockseeker just doesn't have a chance....Not that he did in canon, but up against both twins and the Gauntlet just isn't fair.

            _We see a cave with three travelers and a baby, who isn’t actually travelling by choice, just by necessity. The cave is quiet, each traveler lost in their own thoughts and the baby asleep on his mother’s chest as they bring up the back of the lone. The dwarf fails his saving throw and begins to sneak towards the elf in front of him. A knife flashes in his hands. And then a ball of flame erupts from the tip of the umbrella held by the elf in the rear._

_~~~~~_

            Taako and Lup sit heavily against the wall of the cavern, Angus wailing from his place on Lup’s chest. They’d forgotten to take into account how much the Light wanted to be wanted, it didn’t affect them the same anymore after being chased by it for a century. But the piece inside the Gauntlet had put Cyrus into its thrall and Taako had almost paid the price. If Lup’s passive perception, and her reaction time, had been any lower, Taako would have been dead. In the end, they’d managed to lock the gauntlet, and unfortunately Cyrus, in the vault.

            “We really fucked up when we made the artefacts,” Lup said quietly and Taako could barely hear her over Angus’ wails. Lup didn’t seem to hear him and Taako could see her trembling slightly, “We knew the Light needed to be wanted and we made dangerous things that everyone was going to want even without the Light.”

            Taako gently took Angus from Lup,” Shh, bubelah, it’s alright. We’re all okay.”

            Lup looked at Taako, startled as she realized that she hadn’t heard her son crying. Angus calmed down as Taako soothed him and Lup leaned her head heavily against Taako’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry.”

            “He’s fine, he doesn’t mind me holding him,” Taako reassured his sister, wrapping his arm around her should and kissing her forehead. They sat there like that for a long time before Taako spoke up quietly as Angus was beginning to drift off again, “Yeah, the artefacts were a terrible idea, but letting it destroy another hundred planes, we couldn’t do that. We can’t keep running indefinitely. Especially not now that Ango is here.”

            “I know,” Lup sighed and ran a hand wistfully over Angus’s curls, “but I wish we’d never had to make this stupid decision to begin with.”

            “Well, we did have to make this decision and this was the only feasible option we had.” Taako untangled himself and stood up, careful not to jostle Angus. He held a hand out for Lup, “You’re right though, getting these artefacts hidden away from the general public so that they’re still wanted but unaccessible is the best choice we’ve got. So let’s go find us some artefacts.”

            Lup laughed and let Taako help her to her feet, “Yeah Babe, let’s go find those artefacts and hide them. It’s too bad we didn’t tell anyone where we were going or for how long we were going to be gone.”

            “We could always go back and let everyone know,” Taako suggested, throwing an arm around Lup as they walked out of the cave, “Then we could coerce everyone into helping us.”

            “Nah,” Lup threw her arm around Taako’s waist, “It shouldn’t take us too long to find everything and then we can go back. We have all the time in the world now to actually live our lives.” 

            _As they walk out, we see a lone umbrella standing propped against the wall of the cave with a red cloak and two red jackets pulled at its tip._

_~~~~~_

            _Lucretia had been working on it for months, writing and rewriting their story in a way that would erase the one hundred years they’d traveled through the planar system and the artefacts they’d created without destroying the core of who her friends truly were. The hardest thing to rewrite was the twins and Angus. They were gone, possibly dead. But, if they weren’t dead, then Lucretia couldn’t just erase them. There was no way to do this without fully erasing Barry from their memories, but she figured out a way to give them a chance to at least try and keep Angus in their memories before the loss of their memories knocked them out completely. But there was no guarantee and that scared her. In the end though, it was the only option and, without only the slightest hesitation, she fed her journals to Fisher page by page._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the "And then we see" moments in canon and I'm trying to replicate them somewhat without it being too stilted, I don't know how well I did though. 
> 
> So lets be real though, if Taako had been with Lup in Wave Echo Cave something like this would definitely have been the result! Maybe not the umbrella and robe being left behind, but those will be important later in the story, like much later. Like, around Gerblins time! 
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: madjeknotts.tumblr.com  
> I'll post any updates if there's a delay in updating, but there won't be many. I'm also always happy to talk all the TAZ things with anyone, especially as I'm relistening to all of Balance!!
> 
> See you in two weeks!


	3. Year Zero - What the Hell Happened Last Night?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a Baby crying nearby? Taako didn't remember either himself or Lup having a baby, so could the parent of this literal infant please come take care of him so he can sleep?

            There was a baby crying nearby. A literal infant was wailing close enough to wake Taako up. He groaned, “Someone shut that thing up.”

            The baby kept crying and Taako heard his sister moan from next to him, they must have had a wild night to be waking up with the headaches they obviously had. Lup asked in a voice that was far too loud for the hangover(?) he was experiencing, “Taako, when did we get a baby?”

            Taako sat up in shock at his sister’s statement, blinking against the bright afternoon sun. Okay, they were in the middle of a field, that wasn’t strange at all. Lup was sitting a few feet away with a small half-elf infant held stiffly in her arms and a very confused look on her face. “Lup, whose baby is that? Babe, tell me we didn’t get so drunk that we literally stole a baby.”

            “I don’t know, Koko, he was just laying here next to me when I woke up.” Lup was panicked, but she was rocking the infant back forth instinctually, trying to calm the baby down. Taako was struck by a sense of rightness as he watched his sister with the baby, almost like it wasn’t something he’d never seen before. The infant calmed down almost instantly as Lup rocked him and she smiled down at him, “You know, he looks like you.”

            “Which means he looks like you, goofus,” Taako shot back, avoiding the thought that the child was possibly his. Unh-uh, nope, cha’boy didn’t swing that way. “Is there anything near where you found him that might tell us who he is or who he belongs to?”

            Lup looked around, careful not to jostle the baby who was starting to drift off in her arms. There was a hastily constructed nest on the grass next to her, a bright red robe making up most of it and was the blanket that had been covering the baby before he’d woken up. As she dug through the robe, h̷̢̪̞͋̀e̷̖͗̑ŕ̴̢̾̓ ̸̳͎͔̋̈́̓r̴̲̯͚̦̔̑̾̅͘ò̷̠̘̍̚ḃ̸̭̼̖͎͜ȩ̶̙̲̗̲̈́̽ ̸͚̮̓͒̍̍b̷̤̀̇̋ȩ̸̤̝̹̤̈̄̓͛͒c̶͖̯̺̘̎̊͌ͅȃ̵̡͙̲̝̬̒ṷ̴̜̺̞̤̐̋̚s̷͍͐̏ę̷͙̂͋ ̸͙͔͖̑̅̈̄͊T̶͒͑ͅä̸̭͘a̷̯̤ḵ̴̨̖͓̣̋̔ö̸̡̖̫̪͒͛̓͘'̷̦͉̊̈́͠s̷̢͓͇͔̆̄͑ ̴̼̼͛̓̂w̴̙̹̝͇̾̉͊͊̆a̷͚̼͙̓ś̸͇̰͔͙̺̔͠ ̶͚͖͇̥̼̀m̸̺̺͕̿͋̆̑i̶̘͆̀̎̌͘s̷̛̖͕̱̾ͅs̷̥̼̲̫͗̑ĩ̵̧̬̠̔̐͠n̶̡̰͉̹͋̐͝g̴̡̗̘̮̪̃͂,̷͍͍̞̓̄͂͝ and the other items of clothing that they recognized as their own, Taako saw a piece of white parchment flutter out of one of the folds and he jumped to his feet, grabbing the parchment before it could fly away. He sat back down and placed it where they could both read the note.

            _“His name is Angus. Yes he’s yours Lup. No he wasn’t an accident. You love him more than anything ĕ̷̻͒̕x̴̡̩̬̅͊̌̅c̸̖̩͎̼̃̾e̶̻͓̲̮͐͝p̵͇̻̋̊̏͌͝ţ̸̰̥̾̌ ̷̥̖̠̉̋f̶͇̭̜̍̉̚ȍ̶̧͔̞̬̮͝ṙ̷͚̐̇̓ ̶̼͓̿̇͑B̸̘̗̮͛̔̈́͛͒a̴̛͎͉̯͛͆̿͝r̵̳̜̃͠r̶͔̬̋̓͠ỹ̶̫̌͘ͅ. Remember that.”_ Lup’s handwriting was scrawled across the page and Taako could see it had been done in a hurry. At the bottom he could see that he’d scrawled, “ _Natch he’s Lup’s. Cha’boy doesn’t swing that way. Remember that my dude.”_

Lup laughed as she read Taako’s addendum and pulled Angus closer to her chest, “Of course you would realize that something was messing with our minds and your first thought was to make sure you would always remember which way you swing. As if you wouldn’t have been able to figure that out if you had forgotten.”      

            Taako laughed and posed, “Did you really expect anything differently from Taako, you know, from T.V.?”

            Lup groaned at her brother’s goofiness before her face grew serious as she looked down at the half-elf infant, Angus, her son…. “Can you imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t had him with us? Taako, I didn’t remember my own son until I saw this note. What could make me forget my own son? What does that say about me as a mother?”

            “It doesn’t say anything about you as a mother, it was a spell or a curse, not you.” Taako stood up and helped Lup to her feet before beginning to gather up their gear. They wrapped Angus in the red robe t̷̨̮̼͛͝ḩ̷̣̖̯͐͒̿̚ȩ̷͖͓͑i̴̘̟̔r̶̝̲̟͛̓ ̵͔̆̕o̸̬͚͊̉͐̃̆n̸͉͌͆l̷̘̬̉͜ͅŷ̶̢̰̔̒͜ ̷̤̻̘̍l̴͐͜͠i̷̯̗͖̚͜n̴͙̠̿k̵̰͐̓̐̾ ̶̡͇͍͊̅̂͝t̵͎̊̏̐̏̌ò̸̹̙͕̻̦́͑͘ ̶̛̘̊̊̍ṫ̴̛̘͔̺̬͌͊̍ͅh̴̥̲͚̎͝ẹ̸͈͈̖͑͒̈́ ̶̬I̷̻̊̈̓͠P̸͈̦̗̖̍͌͂̾R̵̝̰͖̯͌̄̈̃E̵͍͔͇̰̾ ̴͍̲͓̘̄̂ä̴̫͇͔́̌̄͒͝n̴̡̹̿̿ḑ̵̛̛͎̫͓̗̎̋ ̵͕͛̿t̸̡͚͖̩̤̒̚h̴͉̎́͌͑ḙ̵̪̮̗̋͗̾̐̚ ̷̞͗S̴̢̨̠̹̅ṭ̴̬̑̈̋a̴͕̪̖̱̟r̶̗̞̎̎͠͠ḇ̴͉͂͐ḻ̶̲̈́̋͠a̸͕͕̩̣͈͊͊̿͝s̴͎̿̈͊͘ẗ̵͍̖́̈́͌͝ë̴̳́̓͗͗̋r̵̳̾, it looked so familiar but trying to think about where it might have come from made Taako’s head feel fuzzy and strange. It couldn’t be that important then, o̵͔͕͑́̊̕͠f̷͔̬̩̲̫̓̆ ̷̟̳̱͚͑̎̒c̶̰͋̃o̸̪͈͇̓͐̿̀̿u̴̺̓r̷͚̻͕̤̗͐s̸͙̪̟͈̗̅̓͠e̴͚̯̥̗͈͛̋͐̾ ̷̳̖̬͍̍i̷̟̺̮͆͋̓̐t̸͚̬̣̲̿̒̄͝͝ ̵̢͈̟̂͋w̴̧̥̭͈̟̄̐̉̍͝a̸̖̹͎̥̎̈́s̸̮͍̲͙̟̉̏̉̿ ̶̢̱̺̬̳͆̄i̶̤̩̋m̵̞̞̯̯̾̀̓p̴̡͍̌̓o̵͚̦͎̩͂̂͛̇͜r̷̮̿̌t̴̜͙͍̹̐ā̴̙̥̅̒͘n̷̡̯͆͛̐̇͝t̶̡͔̮̮͗,̶̦̤̏̒̂̎ ̸͍͇̦͈̆̈͝į̶̙̲̺͍̓̐͝t̵͚͓͈̞̺̉̃̔̇̊ ̷͚͊̇͝͠w̸̩͂a̵̘̳̔͒s̸̨̯̮͙̃͜ ̷͔͇͊̐ṫ̸̼͔̤̬̉̏̄̔h̸̢͈͎̰̮͛͊ḛ̴̭̈́͐̅̓i̶̢̥̞̭̓r̵̝̩͊̅̕͜ ̷̩̹͚͌͝l̷͚̎̇̆̽ȋ̷̥̉̐̑̃n̸̪͗k̴͔̳̓̑͊͋̕ ̷̢͍̒̓ͅt̸̡̼́̃̈́̾̑ơ̵̮͒͂͘ ̶̢̏̅̉̕t̴̮̻̐̀̚h̵͓̖̝͖̍̔̕ë̸͕̦̩́̇̔i̸̢̅͑̈́̾r̴̨̖̪̚ ̵̗̲̀͆̿͗̾f̶̡͔̌̅͌̆̅͜ä̵͇͕̝̅͛m̶̦̭͆ỉ̶͕̍̎̈́l̸̺͈͗͗͒y̶̙̐. They attempted to put Angus into the carrier that they’d found. It took both of them much longer than they’d ever admit to figure out how to put the carrier on Lup and situate Angus in a way that Lup felt was secure. But they did eventually figure out what they were doing.

            Taako looked around and realized that he had no fucking idea where they were. Damn spell, “Lup, babe, do you know where we are or where we were going?”

            Lup looked around and failed her history check with disadvantage, “Fuck, no idea. I guess we just pick a direction and hope we can find a village or town eventually.”

            Taako closed his eyes and spun dramatically a pull in his gut telling him when to stop and point. He opened his eyes, “That way!”

            Lup laughed and the two of them set off in the direction Taako was pointing. Neither spoke, something that was very unusual for them while they travelled. It was a comfortable silence though, it always was, but both were lost in their own thoughts as they tried to piece together what had happened and anything they may have lost.

            Neither said anything to the other about the patches of static that seemed to permeate certain memories.

~~~~~~~~~~

_Bonds are funny things. When they’re strong enough, they can pull two people towards each other even from opposite sides of the world. The Bonds between the Starblaster crew could have pulled them together from separate planar systems._

_~~~~~~~~~~_

_We see Lucretia pick a village at random from a map, a village with enough cover nearby that she can land the Starblaster without causing any problems. But she also chooses the village because something about the name just feels right. We see her cast Sleep, successfully, on her Captain. We can see that it pains her, but she has to do this one thing for her friends and she can’t risk him wandering off in his confused state. She has to do this just in case they’re still alive, she owes it to them. She doesn’t know where Barry is, he’d jumped over the side of the ship when she’d started feeding the journal to Fisher. She hopes they’re still alive, they have to be alive, this cycle is the last one._

_She lands outside the village and locates the closest blacksmith. She purchases a large caravan and pays to have it painted in bright colors. They deserve to have an audience to love them. We see her pull out a stack of paper, brightly painted with large letters that proclaim “Sizzle it Up! With Lup and Taako! Coming Soon!” Taako would have complained, but Lup would have won that fight for sure. Lucretia hangs the flyers all over town, telling everyone about the fabulous cooking skill of the gorgeous Sun Elf Twins._

_When she finally leaves, we see her board the Starblaster and walk directly to her room where Fisher is floating in his tank like always. We see her write something briefly, editing her visit to the town so they don’t quite remember who prepared everything for the twins or when she’d come. We see her drop the pages into Fisher’s tank and as everything fades, we see tears running down her cheeks. She is alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some fun things to do with the Bonds later on. And with the static, my headcanon here is that when Fisher erased the memory of things, he didn't fully erase their minds from having those thoughts, just the ability to comprehend them. Like with Johann's music in the elevator or Magnus looking at the plans for the statue and seeing himself, but being unable to actually make those connections. So they have those thoughts, they just don't actually know they're thinking them. 
> 
> Also, unlike in canon, there is a glaring piece of evidence here that make Lup and Taako know that they've forgotten something, natch. The theory they kind of settle on, which I don't think I touch on, is that they were hit with a strange memory alteration spell that only took the memories of like the last two or three years. Which would also explain why they don't know how Angus' father is. In reality, what happened was that they felt the memories slipping away (Lucretia fed the information about Angus' birth and who his father is into Fisher's tank last) and they knew what was coming, so they wrote the note about Angus and then passed out (basically from mental exhaustion and not from a spell).
> 
> Find me on Tumblr madjeknotts.tumblr.com 
> 
> I'm still got about seven chapters written ahead, which is good because of nursing school, so I shouldn't fall behind for any reason other than maybe I don't get it typed in time (since I handwrite it all first).
> 
> Thanks for reading, reviewing, and leaving kudos! That means the world!


	4. Year One - In Which Angus gets Jeans and a Book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized after posting the last chapter that I may have been a little more vague on the reasoning behind Lup forgetting Angus than I had meant to be. Basically, Lucretia had to erase him from everyone's memories to keep Barry from continuing to look for him, but she didn't want Lup and Taako to just fully forget who he was, so she erased him last, slowly, so that Lup had time to write the note. She didn't want to erase him, but if she didn't she was afraid that Barry specifically would start asking too many questions, the twins just wrote it off as a night of hard drinking and some kind of spell cast by brigands. 
> 
> It's not the cleanest way to fix it, but what about any of this was clean to begin with? Lucretia erased large chunks of their lives and that is inherently messy I think.
> 
> Also I just got to Story and Song for the second time and I don't know if I'm gonna come out of this with any tears left in my body for the next seventeen years of my life. (And if Balance doesn't accomplish it then Nursing School most definitely will!)

            From what they’d been told by a healer in the first village they’d come to, Angus had been between five and six months old when they’d woken up in the field, which meant that his first birthday was fast approaching. Lup had picked a day from the week between the two months and declared it Angus’ birthday because it “just felt right.” Taako had laughed, but the day felt right to him too.

            The healer had also introduced them to her sister who’d come from a nearby village to visit. Upon learning their names, the stout gnome had squealed and asked if they were: “the same Taako and Lup from ‘Sizzle it Up! With Lup and Taako!’” whose caravan and flyers had been in her village for the last two weeks. The twins had barely glanced at each other before Taako had proclaimed, “Natch, my good madame, we are heading there next.”

 Their names were unique enough that, while they had no recollection of running a show, they obviously had a show and a caravan. It made sense to both of them. They were fabulous after all.

The show was an absolute success, not that they’d expected any differently. The magic they performed while cooking was mostly showy explosions that kept the audience enraptured with what they were doing. Taako managed to transmute a few ingredients from other things, but mostly they just cooked phenomenal food, natch, that the audience adored.

Neither of them remembered when they’d decided to start the show, honestly, most of the years leading up to their waking up in the field were a blur. Even now, almost 6 months later nothing had gotten less fuzzy, but neither of them ever wanted or was able to focus on that for too long. And running this cooking show had been the best idea they couldn’t remember ever having. It had been difficult to handle both Angus and the cooking show at first, but they’d soon fallen into an easy rhythm with Angus right there on the stage with them.

And now he was turning One. They’d fought over who was going to make the cake. Lup won because “he is my son dingus, so I am making his cake.” Taako instead was taking Angus into the village they’d performed in the night before to look for a gift for the tyke. Angus had begun walking very early on and he toddled along holding Taako’s hand as they walked through the streets of the village.

“Now bubelah, hold tight to your Uncle Taako’s hand so you don’t get lost and so your Mama doesn’t kill me,” Taako told his nephew and Angus nodded seriously, his eye bright against his dark skin and his curls bobbing with the motion. Taako smiled and winked, “Good, now, let’s go find you a present. Uncle Taako will buy you anything you want.”

Taako crouched down and picked Angus up as the streets grew crowded. He stood up to his full height and collided with someone nearby. He grimaced and smiled apologetically at the dark-skinned human woman with bright white hair, “Please excuse me, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.”

“No, it’s quite alright, I wasn’t really paying attention either.” The woman replied with an air of gravitas to her tone. Angus smiled broadly and, to Taako’s shock, lunged for the woman. She caught him reflexively and there was a sadness in her eyes that he just couldn’t place.

Angus grabbed at the woman’s necklace and began to chew on it, babbling as he did so and the only sounds that Taako could decipher were, “Cre, Cre, Cre.”

The woman froze and, for a moment, Taako felt a strange sense of familiarity at the look on her face. Then he failed his insight check, at disadvantage for some strange reason, and the feeling vanished. The woman handed Angus back, despite the baby’s babbling that was obviously him protesting, and she smiled in Taako’s direction, “I’m sorry, I’ll let you get on with your errands.”

“Thank you,” Taako grinned, turning to smile at Angus in an attempt to cheer the baby up. “I’m sorry again for running into…”

The woman had vanished when he looked up and he couldn’t see her anywhere when he looked around. Taako shook his head and turned to look at Angus, “Some people have no manners my man.”

Angus shrieked in agreement and Taako laughed, “You said it Ango. Now we better hurry up and get your present so we can get back to your Mama before she worries.”

Angus nodded seriously, “Mama.”

Taako laughed, “Of course that would be what you pick up on. Come on then my dude.

~~~

An hour later Taako stumbled out of the final store they’d visited, his arms loaded down with bags and Angus securely strapped into the carrier on his chest. Angus was humming happily, part of the gift he’d chosen grasped happily in his hands. Taako was grumbling, “Lup is going to kill me Ango. I cannot believe you talked me into such an unfashionable gift. I don’t know if I can ever be seen with you again, bubelah. You know that right?”

Angus laughed and shoved his gift up into Taako’s face as if to show his uncle the garment. Taako spluttered as a part of the small denim garment ended up in his mouth. He had to admit that it was adorable on Angus, but honestly everything was. He would never admit that he’d squealed when he’s seen the jacket on Angus, or that it had been like 100% his choice to buy the boy enough denim pants and shorts to last until Angus turned ten at least. Something about Angus and denim just felt right together.

“Excuse me,” Taako turned to see the woman from earlier standing behind him holding a bag from the Fantasy Barnes and Noble in her hand, “Before you bumped into me earlier I overheard you say that it was his birthday and, well, when I saw this in the bookstore I just had to buy it in case I ran into you again. It’s a little above his reading level, I know, but it’s a fabulous book with more to come if the author is to be believed, and I thought you could read it to him.”

Taako took the bag and pulled out the book which was _Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop and the Case of the Missing Mongoose_ , he laughed, “This looks about as campy as camp. But thank you anyway… I didn’t learn your name anyway.”

“It’s Lucretia and you’re welcome,” Lucretia smiled first at him and then at Angus, “And Happy Birthday to you…?”

“Angus,” Taako inserted.

“Happy Birthday, Angus,” Lucretia smiled.

“And I’m Taako, you know, from TV.” He smiled, “It was nice to meet you Lucretia, but we should go before his mother starts to worry.”

With a wave he set off, not waiting for a reply and missing the look of pure anguish, and relief, on the woman’s face.

~~~

_We see Lucretia walk quickly away from Taako as he was speaking with Angus. She hadn’t meant to speak to Taako at all, but hearing her friend discuss the half-elf’s birthday, which she realized had just passed the week before, had shocked her. Angus was a year old. And he was still with Taako at least, hopefully Lup was still with them too. (We know that she has been afraid to keep an ear out for news about the show she’d set up for them.)_

_Angus had remembered her and she wasn’t sure what to make of that information. She didn’t know if Fisher just didn’t affect him because of his age or if it was because both of his parents were liches. She would have to keep an eye on the situation. She couldn’t have him revealing everything to Taako and Lup if he still remembered when he got older._

_Seeing her book in the window of the Fantasy Barnes and Noble had compelled her to purchase it for Angus. Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop and the Case of the Missing Mongoose had been something Lucretia had started working on when Lup and Barry had announced they were expecting as a way to tell Angus about their hundred years travelling the planar systems. She hadn’t finished it before Lup and Taako had disappeared, but she’d started telling Angus the story the day he was born during the shifts she’d taken to help Lup and Barry out. (Everyone had decided unanimously that this baby was going to be everyone’s responsibility and so they’d set up a schedule to more equally split up the workload. Lup and Barry had been shocked and tearfully grateful when the other members of the Starblaster crew had presented it to them). Angus had picked up the Animal Language within three weeks of Lucretia telling him the story, which had shocked Barry and Lucretia because they weren’t used to literal newborns speaking, but didn’t shock the twins who claimed elves usually started speaking the day they were born. The Animal language was the only language he’d been able to speak though._

_When Angus had seen Lucretia today he’d started telling her how much he’d missed her and the rest of his family. She’d felt her heart break as she realized that Taako didn’t understand him and then felt that same heartbreak when Angus asked where his Daddy was._

_And then Angus had obviously chosen a denim jacket as his birthday gift. He’d been trying to tell Taako about his jacket and how it was like Barry’s when Lucretia walked back up to them and he’d been frustrated that no one seemed to understand him anymore._

_Taako had asked her name and she’d hesitated slightly, she wished she didn’t have to introduce herself to someone she’d known longer than the lifespan of most human. It had hurt, but listening to Taako introduce himself and Angus had left her breathless. That was the worst pain she’d ever felt, especially as she’d had to watch them walk away._

_We see Lucretia return to the small house she shares with Davenport and we see her greet him distractedly. We see Davenport take the bag of groceries she offers him and walk into the kitchen to begin making dinner. We see Lucreta walk dejectedly into her bedroom and shut the door. Fisher calls out excitedly when he sees her, flipping and swirling in his tank. She smiled sadly at the fish and sits down at her desk. We see her pull out two empty journals and, after a moment’s hesitation, we see her begin to write. The camera pans down from her face and we see written on the first page of both journals, Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop and the Case of the Forgotten City._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm in love with the headcanon that Lucretia wrote all of the Caleb Cleveland books! Especially if she used them as a way to just vaguely tell their story so that she wasn't the only one who knew it. Keep a look out for the titles in the following chapters, I've had a lot of fun coming up with different ones depending on the different cycles, the first is absolutely my favorite one of all though!!
> 
> Angus remembers everything at this point. And that's a lot. The way I've written it is that Angus' brain is still growing and also part lich, so it resisted Fisher's magics, for now. Whether or not that will remain something that Lucretia is going to have to work around is just something that you'll have to wait to find out. At the moment he doesn't speak much Common intelligibly, but he speaks Animal clearly, which Lup and Taako write off as him just babbling. They don't know what that's supposed to sound like, they've never raised a literal infant before!!
> 
> Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm currently writing some of my favorite chapters, which you'll get to around Christmas I think, and I can't wait for you to see where this is going! 
> 
> You can reach me here or on tumblr: madjeknotts.tumblr.com with any questions. And I'll use Tumblr as a communication tool if I'm ever running late on a chapter, which is starting to become a real possibility just because this is the last chapter I have typed and I start Clinicals this week, which means even less time to do things.
> 
> See you next time!


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